34 



Statistical Account of the 



thus keeping the roots damp, and at the same time preventing 

 them from being constantly immersed in stagnant water. 



The tree seems to flourish best in the immediate vicinity 

 of the sea, and I have frequently seen it growing well with 

 its roots partially immersed in salt water. Owing apparently 

 to the porousness of the soil, an elevation of a few feet is 

 found to act nearly as prejudicially as a removal to a distance 

 of several miles from the coast. The benefits which the cocoa- 

 nut tree bestows on the natives are so well known that it is 

 unnecessary to particularize them. The oil which is in such 

 general use is usually obtained by expression, one end of a 

 bent lever being inserted into a large mortar-shaped vessel 

 so as to rub against the inner surface, while the other is 

 attached to the draught cattle. The cake which is left is called 

 poonack; it contains a large quantity of oil, and is used for 

 fattening poultry, cattle, &c. 



There are about 950,000 cocoanut trees in the District; and 

 as about eighty are generally placed on an acre, it would 

 appear that about 12,000 acres are devoted to this plant, each 

 acre being worth a rent of from twenty to sixty shillings. 

 Each tree yields from twenty-five to seventy nuts, though some 

 occasionally are found to give a crop six or eight times greater 

 than this ; but in those cases the nuts are generally small. 



From one thousand to one thousand five hundred nuts 

 yield on an average a bar of copperah (the dried kernel), and 

 this yields about one hundred and forty seers or 320 lbs. of oil. 

 The average price of copperah is from 22s. to 30s. and above, 

 per bar; that of oil 2\d. to Z\d. per bottle; and that of 

 poonack about three-fifths of a penny per lb., and from 8s. 9d. 

 to lis. 8d. per bar. One bar of copperah yields about 210 lbs. 

 of poonack. 



There are, besides those already enumerated, certain other 

 products of the cocoanut tree, which add to the profits of the 

 planter. Thus, the leaves split lengthways and then woven 

 together by means of the leaflets, form what are called cadjans, 



